Beijing has been selected to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, and while that might seem far down the road, the good news for sports fans is that the upcoming Olympics is just one year away.

NBCUniversal, whose networks will carry the event, is taking advantage of that. The Comcast-owned media company will roll out a marketing campaign on Wednesday to promote its coverage of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Read More »

Four players on the defending national championship Ohio State football team, including one of the top defensive talents in college football, will miss the Buckeyes’ season opener for undisclosed team violations, the school said Thursday.

The players—defensive end Joey Bosa, hybrid backs Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson and wide receiver Corey Smith—will be sidelined on Sept. 7 for Ohio State’s game at Virginia Tech, the only team that beat the Buckeyes last season on their way to the national title. All four players are significant losses, but none is bigger than Bosa, the defensive lineman with 13 ½ sacks last year. Read More »

“I think eventually ESPN becomes a business that is sold directly to the consumers,” Mr. Iger said.

ESPN, which is majority-owned by Disney, could use information from that direct consumer relationship to customize its product and enable more personalization, which will engage fans in a “much more effective way,” he said.

Mr. Iger cautioned that such an offering is not “right around the corner”; even five years down the line, he believes there won’t have been “significant change” in the pay TV business. Read More »

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, left, listens to running back Adrian Peterson, right, during practice at an NFL football training camp on the campus of Minnesota State University on Sunday.

Associated Press

For a number of people, Adrian Peterson is always going to be the guy who physically abused his son under the antiquated guise of “discipline.” But after sitting out almost all of last season due to suspension, Peterson is back on the field, where he might be redeemed.

Not to suggest that salvation is found through carrying a ball, but every athlete is judged by how he’s able to perform. Unlike Tom Brady, Peterson’s transgressions weren’t football-related, and thus, he’ll always have defenders pointing out that he’s an uncommonly great running back. Over the weekend, the Minnesota Vikings opened up training camp, where Peterson was greeted warmly if not enthusiastically by their faithful fans. Peterson did the right things in front of the reporters, and showed off a renewed physique. This is how a rehabilitation starts: Slowly, to show that people are on his side; then, intensely, should his production take off. “Here, right or wrong, Peterson’s reputation is intact,” writes USA Today’s Tom Pelissero. “And while he knows there are some people who still have no interest in giving him a second chance, Peterson doesn’t buy the notion his return to the Vikings is an opportunity to rewrite his legacy.” In some sense, Peterson’s myopia is justified—as long as he continues to run well, he’ll continued to be adored. He’s already ticking off the rehabilitation checklist, having stated his desire to rush for an obscene number of yards (which, given his ability and his time off from the suspension, might be possible) and publicly renewed his passion for religion, which has never hurt anyone.

This is all a departure from earlier this year, when it seemed like Peterson might never again play for the Vikings. Peterson was very public about wanting to go somewhere else; the Vikings seemed like they were idling their time to see if anyone would judge them for keeping him on. “Remember when there was no way the two sides could ever possibly patch things up?” writes the Star Tribune’s Mark Craig. “Remember when Peterson expressed a desire for a fresh start and his agent, Ben Dogra, upped the irritation tactics exponentially before the draft? Remember when Peterson was going to the Cowboys because they cleared just enough salary cap space to fit him onto their roster? Those days were only two or three months ago.” But a football decision was made, as they say, and if Peterson is soon ripping through holes in the line for long runs, it’ll be seen as a genius one. For better and worse, it’s that simple. Read More »

Andrew Talansky of Team Cannondale-Garmin crosses the finish line on stage 17 of the 2015 Tour de France on Wednesday.

Getty Images

SAINT-JEAN-DE-MAURIENNE, France — Andrew Talansky started this Tour de France on a stars-and-stripes liveried bicycle on the Fourth of July. His compatriot Tejay van Garderen, meanwhile, was being discussed as a legitimate podium contender. There was plenty of American chatter to go around.

Nearly three grueling weeks later, it’s taking a lot for U.S. riders to get attention here. In fact, there are only two of them left after van Garderen, of BMC Racing, pulled out on Wednesday. The survivors are Talansky, of Team Cannondale-Garmin, and Tyler Farrar, of MTN-Qhubeka, the first African team to participate in the Tour.

Talansky’s otherwise quiet race nearly took a turn for the spectacular on Wednesday. While van Garderen struggled with his health, Talansky climbed brilliantly and attacked on the notorious descent off the Col d’Allos. Only an earlier attack out of the lead group by Germany’s Simon Geschke denied him the stage win. Talansky settled for second place, 32 seconds back. Read More »

Zach Johnson, right, poses with the trophy as it is handed to him by R&A captain George Macgregor after he won a playoff after the final round at the British Open Golf Championship.

Associated Press

The Wall Street Journal sports team provides live commentary of the final round of the 2015 British Open.

10:05 am (EDT)

Tim Carroll

The Old Course is the worst-best-worst-best girlfriend or boyfriend you’ve ever had.

Bobby Jones walked off the course in the first tournament he played there, tearing up his score card on the 11th hole. Later in his life, he would say if he had one round left in his life, he would play it on the Old Course. He hated it, then he loved it. (And the town would eventually love him.)

Sam Snead, on his train ride into town, looked out the window and wondered aloud about what looked like an abandoned golf course. It was the Old Course. He won here. (Although he wasn’t happy, even after winning because the prize was so small he lost money on the trip.) Sam hated it, then no doubt loved it when he won, then hated it when he realized how expensive it was. Who hasn’t dated someone like that?

And all the golf-course geeks love the course as the Home of Golf, but hate all the changes the R&A has done to the course to keep up with the longer golf ball, the better players, even the extra foot or two of width on the Road Hole bunker, the most famous in golf. Love. Hate. Love. Hate. OK, and ultimately, LOVE.

The course itself starts easy, a glance across the room. The first 12 are almost easy. But then the storms move in. The nasty winds, the rough seas. The final six holes include the toughest hole in all of golf, the 17th, with that now extra wide bunker, a road that anywhere else in golf is a free drop, but here is a penalty. (Who hasn’t done something you thought was OK, only to get that glance from your significant other that definitely says it was not.)

Finally, the Home hole. The question today is who comes Home with the prize–a jug to drink from with your beloved–and who comes Home empty-handed.

This final round has more story lines than “Game of Thrones.” Stay tuned.

Or you can stand within a chip shot of the 18th green and watch the winner sink his last putt for free.

The 18th hole runs along a narrow street called the Links, which separates the course from a row of townhouses occupied by shops, hotels and private residences. There is no tall fence obstructing the view. There are no trees in the way.

During the Open, the only added boundary is a row of metal barricades that runs down the center of the road. On the inside of the barricades are paying ticketholders, who crowd the edge of the 18th fairway and green area. But behind the barricades, the street remains open to the public.

The setup typifies the egalitarianism of the Old Course, a public course on common land that blends seamlessly into a centuries-old town at the adjacent first and 18th holes.

“There’s probably no other golf course in the world where you can do this,” said 44-year-old Anthony Hutchinson of Gateshead, England, as he peered over the crowd in front of him from behind the gate Sunday. “It would be better if you were inside, but from the street, this is pretty good.”

During the first three rounds of the tournament, some fans stood perched on the lower crossbars of the barricades to get a clear view of the green. Others used periscopes. On both sides of the barricades, the street tends to fill up as the leaders and other well-known players approach the 18th green. But even fans whose views are obstructed are hard-pressed to complain about the paying ticketholders in front of them.

“Sometimes they block your view,” said 63-year-old Barry Couzens of Glasgow. “But you can’t have everything, can you?” Read More »

Jordan Spieth plays from the 17th tee during the third round at the British Open at the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland, on Sunday

Associated Press

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Jordan Spieth’s run at golf history is alive and well.

After a bogey on the ninth hole left him seething, Spieth birdied the next three holes Sunday and finished with a 6-under-par 66 in the third round of the British Open, putting himself 11-under par for the tournament and near the top of the leaderboard entering Monday’s final round.

Spieth, who is vying to become the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win the first three majors of the year, had his best round of the tournament on a calm, partly sunny afternoon at the Old Course. But he was hardly alone in taking advantage of the favorable scoring conditions.

Irish amateur Paul Dunne shot a 66 to grab a share of the clubhouse lead at 12 under. His 204 marks the lowest 54-hole score by an amateur in Open history. Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Day are also tied for the lead, as each shot a 67 on Sunday to move to 12-under.

Dustin Johnson began his round alone in first place but went without a birdie until the 15th hole. He immediately negated that gain with a bogey on No. 16.

In addition to the golfers just ahead of Spieth in the lead, there is a crowd of contenders just behind him. With three pairings still on the course Sunday, there were 10 other players within three strokes of the lead. Read More »

Dustin Johnson teed off Sunday afternoon leading the British Open through 36 holes, but the competition he’ll need to fend off runs far deeper than just Jordan Spieth. A tournament that began as an apparent showdown between those two has evolved into something much more muddled. Read More »

SPORTS, THE JOURNAL WAY

The Daily Fix blog provides takes on the latest sports news. Features include The Count, a look at the most revealing sports stats, as well as regular live reports of major sports events. Go to the Journal’s sports page for up-to-date coverage on the latest in sports.

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About The Daily Fix

Jeremy Gordon is a freelance writer who lives in Chicago. He has written for TheAtlantic.com, MTV and Prefix and occasionally Tumbles and Tweets. The last time he cried was when Steve Bartman dropped the ball.

Jared Diamond writes about sports for The Wall Street Journal. He currently serves as a beat reporter covering the New York Mets and Major League Baseball.